A/N: Hey well as you should no (if you read the previous Chapters) this is gonna be multiple chapters long, the odd chapters(1,3,5...) are gonna be the story of Shika/Ino and the even chapters(2,4,6...) are gonna be the story of Kanku/Saku! Enjoy and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE R+R! it would just really make my day if you did!!!

I'll try to write a new chapter every week or so. If i get behind please don't hate me, it probably just means im having some bad days - it actually happens a lot...haha!

I have footnotes now in these chapters so wherever you see (*) go down to the A/N at the bottom of the page to find out what I'm talking about (or if I just wanna say something but don't wanna interrupt the story.)

Ok this chapter takes place where ch. 4 left off, obviously, but also the day after ch. 5 left off on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, as much as i wish i did :(

Chapter 6

Water Droplets

As Sakura walked down the hallway towards her bathroom, she pulled off her shirt, revealing a silk, white bra with pink polka dots, so as not to waste a lot of time getting into the shower.

Just as she reached for the door handle of the bathroom, inside Kankuro reached for on of the fluffy, white towels. Sakura's hand closed over the handle at the same time as Kankuro's fingers closed over the edge of the towel. She pushed at the door and he pulled at the towel in unison with her. And the door swung open…

Luckily, the medic-nin was looking down when she entered the room, so the puppetmaster to pull the towel down off it's hanging point on the wall and secure it low around his hips. When Sakura looked up, she found herself staring blankly into blank eyes staring back at her, neither one of them comprehending the situation. Both of their pairs of eyes began to rake over the other's body, then look down at their own, blushing simultaneously.

Sakura was the first to speak, "…Sorry, I, um, didn't…realize you were, uh, in here… I'll just wait 'til you're doe…" She watched a water droplet roll down his glorious chest. Her mouth went dry at this sight..

"No, it's fine, I'm done in here anyways. Let me just…" Kankuro grabbed is clothes that were in a heap on the floor and scurried out of the bathroom, feeling the towel slipping from the increased pressure underneath it.

Sakura quickly closed the door behind him and leaned against it, closing her eyes, trying to calm her raging blush. After a few moments of deep breathing and clearing her mind, she finished undressing and got into the shower where she tried to wash away the dream and the sight of Kankuro in nothing but a towel.

In the spare bedroom, Kankuro was mentally kicking himself for blushing while trying to calm himself down. Why does she have to be so damn cute?! And that silk bra perfectly accentuates — ugh… STOP THINKING ABOUT HER!

Breakfast that morning was awkward to say the least. They ate in silence, too embarrassed to even look each other in the eye, let alone talk to one another. Fortunately, they were saved by a knock at the door. Sakura got up to answer it. When the door swung open, she found a heavily panting Ino framed in the doorway.

"Forehead, you gotta come. Lee was hurt bad on a mission! I couldn't help; Tsunade's working on him now, but she can't hold out, she needs your help! Hurry!"

Sakura sprang into action: she grabbed her medical bag and put on her sandals. In a matter of seconds, the two medic-nin were sprinting down the street towards the near-by Konoha hospital.

Kankuro had seen the way Sakura had tensed at the mention of Lee being hurt so badly that Lady Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, and a master in medical ninjutsu, was having difficulty healing him. He rushed after the girls. She seems to be pretty fond of Lee. If something happens to this guy and they cant heal him, I need to be there for her.

Sakura burst into the hospital room. She saw Gai, Neji, and Tenten in a blur as she rushed to aid her Senpai, Ino hot on her heels.

The pinkette recognized the difficult jutsu her master was performing and jumped in; she could tell the Hokage was running out of chakra.

"Ino, move to th other side, next to Tsunade-sama and place one of your hands over hers and one over mine and push your chakra into our hands! You don't know this jutsu, but we need all the help we can get!" Ino did as ordered just as Kankuro made his way hastily into the room. Sakura was concentrating on the jutsu, but she felt his chakra presence. "Kankuro, get Kakashi. Neji, can you find his location?"

"Hai," Neji replied. His usual emotionless demeanor was now streaked with fear for his friend and teammate. The two ninja left the room quickly in search of the silver-haired copy-nin.

Please find him! If we lose Lee, Gai's going to break down and he needs his best friend here to comfort him…to comfort us all, really. Sakura thought to herself as she worked on getting Lee stable.

Sakura's chakra was depleting rapidly, and she had only been at this for a couple of minutes. If Tsunade has been at this for a half an hour already, she should be completely drained by now, even with Ino's help. Please, Kankuro, Neji, hurry…!

The puppetmaster from Suna and the Byakugan wielder from Konoha jumped through the trees, heading to where Neji had instructed: north.

"He and Naruto are training up ahead," Neji said, in an almost emotionless voice.

"Hai." Kankuro couldn't help but wonder if they would make it back in time to be of any comfort. If they lose him, and its before we get back, I'll never forgive myself for not being there for her.

"Kakashi!" Neji had reached the clearing just before Kankuro, and had wasted no time in addressing their target.

"Neji. Kankuro," the silver-haired man's face went from mild surprise and pleasure to worry. "What's happened?"

"It's Lee. He's been injured. Sakura and the Hokage are trying to heal him, but it's not looking very good. It's just a matter of time before Gai really loses it; Sakura sent us for you." As Neji said this, he and Kankuro watched the older Jonin's face (or what was exposed of his face) grow pale, and his right eye grow wide.

At this point, Naruto burst out, "BUSHYBROW!" and took off for the hospital. The initial shock of Naruto's outburst and sudden departure had the remaining three ninja stunned in their places. When the group came around, they took off after the orange-clad Jinchuriki.

When Kankuro walked back into Lee's hospital room behind Neji and Kakashi, he noticed it was much more crowded than it had been when he left. He assumed that Naruto had come across everyone in the Konoha 12 that wasn't already at the hospital, and told them about "Bushybrow's" condition. It also seemed that Naruto had run into Kankuro's siblings as well.

Naruto had taken the place of Ino, who was now collapsed on the floor next to a worried Tenten, and was pushing his chakra into Lee through Sakura and Tsunade.

Another ten minutes ticked past with no positive response from the Handsome Devil of the Hidden Leaf Village. Then all of a sudden, his almost nonexistent breathing hitched in his throat before turning into a just-audible, steady pace. (**)

Sakura sank to her knees at the side of Lee's bed; Tsunade staggered back and leaned heavily against the wall; Naruto fell next to Ino; Gai burst into tears of joy; Shizune barged into the room, Jiraiya hot on her heels, (she had been on guard duty with Kotetsu—Izumo was on a mission at the time and was unable to work with his best friend—when the white-haired Sannin had waltzed through the gates) for they had just been informed about the Jonin in critical condition.

. . . But something was wrong . . .

Lee's body was slowly growing paler. Sakura's eyes widened as Tsunade forced still more chakra into her hands and ran them quickly, but thoroughly over the ninja. Her glowing hands stopped on his heft thigh, just over his Femoral artery. The master medic's face went almost as pale as the man lying in front of her.

"How could we have missed that?" she breathed.

Sakura slowly and shakily stood up with her minimal energy. Shizune ran over to help Sakura stand, and they both drew chakra to their hands to find out what the great Tsunade and her protégé (***) had missed earlier.

Lee's left Femoral artery had been crushed and was causing the young man to bleed-out internally. Shizune immediately started trying to heal it, but poisons being her specialty, did not have the right training to heal it correctly.

(****) The silent room watched the life completely dwindle away from their teammate, friend, rival, and student. Tears were in all of the women's, and many of the men's eyes.

~ Sakura began to head back to the floor, but Kankuro appeared behind her and pulled her into a tight, supporting hug.

~ Tenten was sobbing onto Neji's shoulder; he even let a tear slip down his cheek…

~ Kakashi had his hand on Gai's back as he clutched his favorite student's cold fingers. The man's tears had not stopped flowing since they began: when Lee had been brought to the hospital.

~ Ino had gotten off the floor and was now clutching Shikamaru as though her life depended on it. He hugged her back, pain evident on his face, while Choji patted them both on the back.

~ A tear rolled down Tsunade's cheek as Jiraiya put an arm around her shoulder. The two Sannin had grown very close over the past years—since he had returned with Naruto, after his initial two-and-a-half year training session—almost as close as Tsunade and Lee had become.

~ Naruto gripped the railing at the end of Lee's hospital bed. Gaara placed his hand on the shoulder of his best friend, as he looked down at the lifeless body of the man he once tried to kill.

~ Kiba was being comforted by Temari: they had been spending so much time together recently, and Akamaru was whining and liking his best friend's hand.

~ Shino's usual emotionless façade was now flushed with sorrow as he tightly hugged Hinata's shaking form.

~ Shizune was being supported by Kakashi, who still had his hand on his best friend's back, but felt the need to keep Shizune from falling to the floor.

The solemn group stayed mostly like this for several minutes, until Sakura, completely drained, fell asleep in Kankuro's embrace. The sand-nin picked Sakura up and carried her bridal style to the door, where he glanced back compassionately at his siblings, friends, and allies.

Then, without saying a word, he walked silently from the hospital, back to the medic-nin's house.

A/N:

(*) - Subtle hint there to the fact that KANKURO HAS A BONER from seeing Sakura in only her bra... :) hehe

(**) - I know they probably wouls be in a closed O.R. - like the one Choji was in after his fight with Jirobo - and there would be mant more medics working on him, but I needed to do it like this for the effect of the story.

(***) - being Sakura

(****) - Ironically, my iPod, which was on shuffle, turned over to the song "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne when I started writing this paragraph. I almost started crying wile writing this, so I hope I was able to stir up as much emotion with all my faithful readers.

Okie dokie. So, I hope you all don't hate me for killing off Lee. I did get more reviews, but not a lot, and I needed to kill off someone for the effect of the story. I considered Tsunade, but couldn't bring myself to do it. Sorry about the long wait for the chapter. Next one will hopefully be out quicker than this one was (but i needed the time to put the right emotion into it). Please keep reading and reviewing!